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We all know what Cialis (tadalafil) does for the phallus, but what if it fought cancer? A team from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine just started enrolling patients in a clinical trial on Cialis for treating head and neck cancer.

The irony, perhaps, is that the tumors Cialis may help treat are more and more likely to be due to oral sex—one thing Cialis certainly makes more likely. A growing number of such cancers appear to be driven by infections with the human papilloma virus (HPV), which appear to be spreading via oral-genital sex, Maura Gillison, an Ohio State cancer researcher said last week at the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Clinical Investigator Symposium in New York City.

Like other erectile dysfunction drugs—say, Viagra or Levitra— Cialis works by boosting the effects of nitric oxide, which relaxes and opens up blood flow to the penis, facilitating an erection. But the drug has a very different effect on the immune system, explains lead investigator Joseph Califano, an otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon at Hopkins who described his new trial at the symposium. As it turns out, Cialis might protect immune cells from being led astray by cancer.

A common feature of head and neck cancers, which can occur in the mouth, throat, tonsils, voice box, tongue and palate, is their ability to suppress the body's defense mechanisms, Califano explains. One way they do this is by ramping up activity of cells known as suppressor cells that block the activity of immune cells that would otherwise attack the tumor, he says. Cialis seems to work in the opposite direction, freeing immune cells to go after the cancer.

One of the advantages of using Cialis as a cancer treatment is that it has few side effects—except for the obvious (and some would argue agreeable) effect on male reproductive equipment, says Califano. "It's very nice to have a drug that is basically very safe."

But the fact that Cialis has such an obvious secondary effect makes it hard to conduct a blinded placebo-controlled trial, Califano notes. Under ideal circumstances, study participants have no way of knowing if they are taking the drug or the placebo, but this is difficult with Cialis—at least among male patients. 

Every year some 600,000 people are diagnosed with head and neck cancer worldwide, and half of them will die from the disease within five years, according to Gillison.

The Cialis trial, which Califano hopes to wrap up in two years, will include 40 men and women with head and neck cancer. If the drug stifles cancer growth in these patients, he plans move forward with a larger trial. 

Image of a book by Damon Runyon, a journalist and short story writer who died of cancer in 1946: ©Ivan Oransky, Scientific American

10 Comments

1. 1. aswyllie 08:25 PM 5/4/09

   It is nice to see that other benefits can come of these drugs other than what they were originally designed for. We are still learning in the 21st Century about the wonderous systems of the human body. I am hoping that they find this can help.

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2. 2. domfischer 03:02 AM 5/7/09

   by the way, have they found a test for male HPV?.. and a cure?

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3. 3. yelbis 01:49 PM 5/7/09

   I have found the Cialis and Viagra aid in expanding my overall circulatory system. Cialis seems the best in this regard as it is slower acting than Viagra (which effect lasts approximately four (4) hours). Thus.. due to the enhanced circulatory effect I seem to experience more energy overall. I also believe it may aid in the overall distribution of nutrients "body-wide" thus enhancing one's general health. Nutrition is a key element in the immune system's maintenance thus Cialis or a derivative could aid in cancer prevention in some cases. I would surmise that the best approach to immune system maintenance is a healthy diet, regular exercise, and perhaps a supplement such as Cialis.
   

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4. 4. Katie448 05:45 AM 6/2/09

   Cialis is an impotence treatment pill to be taken orally. It works by increasing blood flow into the penis after some sort of sexual stimulation. <a href="http://www.onlineclinic.co.uk">Cialis</a> does this by relaxing the muscles and increasing blood flow to particular areas of the body. This helps you to achieve and maintain an erection. Cialis is a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor and all impotence treatments belonging to this category work in the same way. The only difference in them is their active ingredients and the dosage they come in. Some other impotence treatments in the same class are Viagra and Levitra

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9. 9. brandysdad 11:38 PM 1/14/12

   Thank you for your item for Cialis for cancer,i just ordered 120 pills,if they help me with my throat cancer you will have a life long buyer!!

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10. 10. pitasmom 12:51 AM 7/31/12

    I bought 300 cialis hoping it would help my husband with his throat cancer,cost so much more than we could afford,but had high hopes. It did him NO good at all,he passed away on 7-7-12. Chemo,radiation,hospital stays and so much pain,no good man should have to go thru. So before you spend money that you may not be able to afford to spend look into food grade H202,i wish i had found that before this stupid idea,this is proven that it works,it has for me,but it was way to late to help my wonderful husband.

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